Wildcats take own title
Charlebois brothers combine on winner as Maple Hill knocks off Cambridge in final
Creativity in soccer can be an extraordinary thing to watch unfold and such skills are accentuated more when a goal is attached. Monday afternoon, brothers Luc and Eli Charlebois completed both parts of such a sequence for the Maple Hill boys’ soccer team.
Following a foul, Cambridge set up a wall of six players in front of the goal as Maple Hill prepared to take a free kick. Luc Charlebois navigated around the roadblock as he instead feathered a pass across to the right and Eli Charlebois converted his brother’s feed with 19:49 left.
The Indians scored in the 70th minute, but could not get an equalizer as Maple Hill produced a 2-1 victory in the title game of the Maple Hills Fall Sports Weekend boys’ tournament.
The second goal by Maple Hill (13-1-1 overall) proved significant with the Indians (7-7-1) cutting the deficit in half with 10:34 left.
“That is just something we work a lot on in practice,” Luc Charlebois said. “Eli is a similar player to guys we’ve had in the past like Garrett Axtmann and Jaime Schultz. He is big and physical. He’s only a sophomore, so he has a lot of time ahead. He did most of the work on that. I just had to put it in the right spot.”
Luc Charlebois earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award on offense as he registered three assists in two games. Maple Hill previously defeated OESJ 2-0 Saturday.
“He played very well. He has been doing that all year,” Maple Hill coach Dan Gillespie said. “Luc is a great leader as a captain. He won a lot of balls because he kept his head up. He has a lot of ball skills.”
The Wildcats, ranked No. 15 in the latest Class C state poll, controlled the vast majority of play through 60 minutes of action.
Maple Hill senior goalie Aidan Percey, who helped Maple Hill post nine consecutive shutout wins earlier this season in Patroon Conference play, had a minimal workload Monday thanks to a new defensive unit from the 2018 group that helped lead the Wildcats to their third straight Section II Class C championship.
“Our defense can hold anyone to no goals. That is why we are disappointed when we let one in,” Luc Charlebois said.
“They have been very good,” Gillespie said. “It is a brand new
group back there except for my goalie.”
Aidan Fletcher got the Wildcats rolling on offense when he took a pass from Eli Charlebois and fired in a shot from the right side with 12:04 remaining in the first half.
Maple Hill generated some quality chances in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, including a shot Benjamin Marra hit off the post and another Eli Charlebois had denied on a brilliant save by Cambridge goalie Parker Robinson.
Cambridge became just the third team this season to score on Maple Hill when Ori Bakerporazinski scored on a breakaway. The Wildcats allowed three goals in their season-opening 3-2 loss to Hudson and also gave up one goal in a 4-1 win against Cairo-durham.
“When you dominate a game, you want to keep a shutout. That is a little disappointing,” Luc Charlebois said. “We can move past it, but I am sure we will hear about it (Tuesday) in practice.”
Gillespie was happy with the final result, yet he voiced his concern regarding where his team is at with the seeding meeting set for Monday.
“We should be playing better than what we are right now,” Gillespie said. “Saying that, this is a good group.”
Maple Hill is 11-1-1 in league play, just ahead of Greenville and Hudson.
“I would say we’re in a good spot heading into sectionals,” Luc Charlebois said. “We’ve got to get a win on Thursday (against Coxsackie-athens). That is our main focus right now, winning the Patroon.”